Altoona Budget Committee Reviews 2025 Utility Budgets

On Thursday, September 26, 2024, at 3:30 p.m., the Budget Committee met in Council Chambers at Altoona City Hall, 1303 Lynn Avenue, Altoona, WI. Mayor Brendan Pratt and Councilpersons Dale Stuber, Timothy Lima, Matthew Buren, and Caitlin Leopold were present; Councilmembers Dylan Green and Sue Rowe were absent. Also present were Finance Committee member Mark Willer, City Administrator Michael Golot, Finance Director Tina Nelson, Director of Public Works Scott Quick, Assistant Public Works Director/City Engineer Christian Hupert, Utilities Account Manager Lori Prudlock, and City Clerk Cindy Bauer. A quorum was present. The meeting consisted of an overview of the proposed 2025 water, sewer, and stormwater utility budgets.

Water Utility Overview

• Lori Prudlock reported that water sales revenue has grown because of new accounts and construction. The utility had 3,978 accounts at the end of 2023 and 4,112 accounts at the meeting date. It had completed 272 cross-connection inspections so far in 2024 (required by the DNR and performed during meter changes), performed 387 meter installations/replacements, and still had 14 meters from before 2005 to replace. About 1,200 meters are not yet connected to the city's AMI tower-reading system; the city expects to have all meters on the system within two to three years, likely closer to two.
• Reaching 4,000 accounts triggers different PSC regulation. Prudlock said that after the 2025 report, based on 2024 account data, the PSC will notify the city to use different accounting and record-keeping requirements, and described the threshold as roughly the difference between a C and a D utility.
• A PSC-approved water rate increase took effect June 18, 2024, and first appears on October 1, 2024 bills. Prudlock's description of the PSC filing timeline was unclear, mentioning June of 2020 or July of 2023. She said customers who called about the increase were generally understanding.
• Fire protection charges changed from building square footage to meter size, which Prudlock said is fairer and reduces errors. Service fees were introduced for meter classes the transcript labels as 'deduct' meters and sprinkler meters, and the city completed a one-time pro-rated buyback of meters installed after 2013, so the city now owns those meters instead of relying on customer-owned meters.
• AMI alerts still need tuning; Prudlock said they receive more than 400 daily alerts, often from irrigation, but cannot yet distinguish those from leaks. AMI training was scheduled for the week following the meeting.

Sewer Utility Overview

• Tina Nelson said sewer rates are set by the council and the largest expense is the treatment contract with the City of Eau Claire. The previous year's Eau Claire rate had increased from 493 to 523 per thousand (units not specified in the transcript). The 2025 rate had not yet been received; because the rate must be provided 60 days before taking effect, Nelson said that if it is not received by the end of October, Eau Claire would not be able to change the rate for next year. She emphasized the need to monitor the contract to ensure the city is being charged fairly.
• The proposed 2025 sewer utility budget includes special assessment revenue, debt proceeds (transcribed as 'geodebt'), and a $197,000 transfer from reserves; depreciation is $195,000. Nelson described the sewer utility's fund balance as healthy.

Stormwater Utility and Maintenance Needs

• Nelson said stormwater rates have not changed since 2014 or earlier. The city plans to begin an internal review of its stormwater ordinance, rate structure, and commercial credits in 2024-2025, with potential outside consulting help included in the budget if needed. Stormwater depreciation is $315,000, and the fund balance is healthy.
• Scott Quick requested an additional employee with 75% of time on stormwater and 25% on water wells, citing many new stormwater ponds from development and the two new wells. He said a DNR stormwater audit this year recommended more diligent pond inspection and maintenance. When asked, he estimated the fully loaded cost of a full-time employee at roughly $100,000, but noted the position may not be approved.
• Quick described stormwater pond work including erosion control, riprap repair, dredging, vegetation management, and outfall inspections. He cited a past dredging/restoration at ponds near Prairie View Ridge that cost around $20,000 (largely paid by the developer), said the goal is to dredge ponds such as Wilson Pond about every four years instead of every ten, and noted a failed outfall in Windsor Forest that now needs significant repairs after years without inspection. GPS devices and an MSA GIS contract are expected to support asset tracking and scheduled maintenance records.

Customer Portal and Payment Modernization

• Prudlock described a planned customer portal that would combine AMI meter data with online billing and payment. Customers could view daily/hourly usage, set their own alerts, see past bills, store payment methods, and manage multiple accounts; landlords could check tenant payment status. The portal is targeted for January 1, 2025, subject to integration among the city's billing software, the payment vendor, and the AMI vendor.
• Current credit card payments cost 3% of the balance. The new payment system will use a tiered structure with flat fees for small amounts and a percentage for payments over $200, with an ACH option at $1.50. Customers can view accounts without paying and continue to pay by cash or check with no service fee. Approximately 800 customers currently use the free ACH auto-pay; the new portal would allow customers to manage auto-pay themselves, including one-click cancellation. The new system will auto-batch payments, eliminating the manual approval of each GovPay payment. When a council member asked about adding weather-reference data such as precipitation, Prudlock said she would check with the vendor but believed it might be available.
• Prudlock and City Administrator Mike Golot discussed the possibility of monthly billing in the future; they concluded that current staffing would make monthly billing unworkable now, though further automation could make it feasible in a few years.

Key Outcomes

• No formal action was taken on the 2025 utility budgets; the meeting was informational.
• The request for an additional stormwater/well worker is pending. Internal budget requests were due the previous Friday (September 20, 2024), and staff will review them before presenting proposed budgets to the committee.
• The customer portal is scheduled to launch January 1, 2025, if vendor integration is completed on time.
• The committee adjourned at approximately 5:07 p.m.